Cook County Transfer Tax: Rates, Calculation, and Exemptions

The Cook County transfer tax is actually three taxes stacked together: Illinois charges $0.50 per $500 of the sale price, Cook County adds $0.25 per $500, and properties inside Chicago face an additional $5.25 per $500. On a $300,000 home in Chicago, that comes to roughly $3,600, split between buyer and seller. On the same home elsewhere in Cook County, the bill drops to about $450, paid by the seller. Each layer has to be paid and stamped before the county will record the deed.

The Three Tax Layers and Their Rates

Illinois imposes a state real estate transfer tax of $0.50 for every $500 of the sale price, or fraction of $500. The seller pays it.¹

Cook County adds $0.25 per $500 on top of the state tax. The ordinance places the primary responsibility on the seller. If the seller is exempt from the tax by state law, the obligation shifts to the buyer.²

Chicago layers a much larger municipal tax on properties inside city limits: $5.25 per $500, divided into a $3.75 city portion paid by the buyer and a $1.50 CTA portion paid by the seller.³ Cook County municipalities other than Chicago may impose their own transfer taxes with different rates and allocations, so check the local rules for the specific address.

Who Pays What

Add up the seller’s obligations first. On any Cook County sale, the seller pays $0.50 per $500 to the state and $0.25 per $500 to the county. Inside Chicago, the seller also pays the $1.50-per-$500 CTA portion, bringing the seller’s total to $2.25 per $500. Outside Chicago, the seller’s share stays at $0.75 per $500.

The buyer’s obligation depends entirely on location. Inside Chicago, the buyer pays the $3.75-per-$500 city portion.⁴ Outside Chicago, buyers generally owe no transfer tax unless a local municipality imposes one or the purchase contract shifts the seller’s share to the buyer. The government doesn’t care who writes the check, only that the tax is paid, so contracts sometimes reassign these amounts.

How the Tax Is Calculated

The tax base is the transfer price, generally the full sale price. If the price isn’t a clean multiple of $500, round up to the next $500 before applying the rate. A sale of $302,100 is taxed on $302,500.

Here is the math on a $300,000 Chicago home, where the price divides into 600 units of $500:

State tax (seller): 600 × $0.50 = $300
County tax (seller): 600 × $0.25 = $150
CTA portion (seller): 600 × $1.50 = $900
City portion (buyer): 600 × $3.75 = $2,250
Total: $3,600, with $1,350 from the seller and $2,250 from the buyer

The same $300,000 home outside Chicago but inside Cook County generates $450 in total tax, all paid by the seller.

The Mortgage Deduction

Both the state statute and the Cook County ordinance let the outstanding mortgage balance be excluded from the tax base, but only when the property is transferred subject to the existing mortgage, meaning the buyer takes it over rather than the seller paying it off at closing.¹² The deed must state explicitly that the transfer is subject to the mortgage. In a typical sale where the mortgage is paid off from proceeds at closing, this deduction doesn’t apply and the tax is calculated on the full price.⁵

Common Exemptions

The state, county, and Chicago each keep their own exemption lists, and they overlap substantially. The transfers most people ask about:

Deeds to or from a federal, state, or local government body⁶
Deeds given as security for a loan, or releasing property that secured a debt
Deeds to a mortgage holder through foreclosure, or accepted in lieu of foreclosure
Court-ordered deeds of partition where no money changes hands
Transfers to or from organizations operated exclusively for charitable, religious, or educational purposes⁶
Transactions where the actual consideration is less than $100
Transfers into a trust where the grantor remains the sole beneficiary. Moving property back out of the trust at a different ownership percentage than what went in can trigger tax.⁷

An exempt transfer still requires the declaration and an exemption stamp. The correct exemption code goes on the declaration, and the recorder verifies it before accepting the deed. Skipping the paperwork because no tax is owed can delay recording.

Chicago’s Full Payment Certificate Requirement

If the property is in Chicago, the seller must obtain a Full Payment Certificate confirming that all water and utility charges are paid in full before the city will issue transfer tax stamps. No certificate, no stamps, no recording.⁸

The application fee is $50, waived for transfers that are exempt from Chicago’s transfer tax. If a deed is recorded without the certificate, both the buyer and the seller become jointly liable for any outstanding utility charges and penalties on the account. Order the certificate early. Old water bills from a prior owner can take time to resolve.⁸

Filing the Declaration and Recording the Deed

Every Cook County transfer requires an Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration (Form PTAX-203), filed electronically through MyDec on the Illinois Department of Revenue’s MyTax Illinois platform.⁹ The system issues a declaration ID that the recorder needs when the deed is presented. The declaration captures the property’s PINs, the sale price, deed type, any exemption code, mortgage information if the transfer is subject to a mortgage, use of the property, legal description, and signatures from both sides. Commercial properties and sales over $1 million require the supplemental PTAX-203-A.¹⁰ Details on the declaration must match the deed exactly. Mismatches are one of the most common reasons recorders reject filings.

Once the declaration is submitted, the tax is paid at the Cook County Clerk’s office, which issues the physical stamps that go on the original deed. Chicago properties also need city stamps, which depend on the Full Payment Certificate. The stamped deed and signed declaration then go to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds for recording. The recording fee for a standard deed is $107.¹¹ Recording staff verify that every required stamp is present before accepting the documents.

Because the transfer tax creates a lien, underpayment is far more expensive to fix after recording than before. Get the rate, the rounding, and the allocation right at closing.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 200/31-10 – Imposition of Tax
2
Cook County. Cook County Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance – Section 74-102
3
American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 3-33-030 – Tax Imposed
4
City of Chicago. Real Property Transfer Tax
5
Illinois Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax Stamp Purchase Forms and Procedures
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 200/31-45 – Exemptions
7
City of Chicago. Real Property Transfer Tax Declaration Handout
8
City of Chicago. Full Payment Certificates
9
Illinois Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax – Individuals, Title Companies and Settlement Agencies
10
Illinois Department of Revenue. Instructions for Form PTAX-203 – Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration
11
Cook County Clerk. Recording Fees